Locked-Out P.K. Subban, Kevin Bieksa Do the Weather

P.K. Subban and Kevin Bieksa both tried their hand at a different line of work in light of the NHL lockout. Subban: John E. Sokolowski-US PRESSWIRE, Bieksa: Bob DeChiara-US PRESSWIRE

When times are tough, you just gotta make it work and that’s exactly what P.K. Subban and Kevin Bieksa recently did for news stations in Canada.

Because Subban’s employer, the Montreal Canadiens, has him locked out, it goes without saying that he has some time on his hands. Subban actually used this free time to create a video resume, highlighting some of his most relevant skills and experiences:

http://youtu.be/rlHMObnWTq0

(Love the intense finger-pointing for “in your company” and the reason for his immediate availability.)

It looks like someone at CTV Montreal saw this video resume and decided to give Subban a try at doing the weather forecast. He starts off by teasing that he’s going to show the viewers how not to do the weather and then explains that CTV Montreal’s normal meteorologist is in the wings, coaching him. Then he talks about the continued movement of Hurricane Sandy and how it’s great news that the storm is getting out of New York.

Then he continues to the province of Quebec and uses some exaggerated hand gestures to explain wind. When he reassures the children of his teammates that they’ll have good weather for trick-or-treating, the normal meteorologist rushes in to explain that he’s going over time and actually drags him out of view by his arm so they can join the round table of anchors, where he earns a round of applause.

Plus, he explains the charity he’s supporting, Hyundai Hockey Helpers, which aids kids in affording the costs of playing the game. He’s even praised for his ad-libbing skills, which could definitely come in handy after his hockey career ends.

Check out the whole thing here:

http://youtu.be/xHulPic_ZMY

Subban has great presence, but his only problem is he tends to look at the screen too often. He should make more eye contact with the camera/audience, but maybe he was just a little nervous.

Earlier this month, Kevin Bieksa visited Vancouver’s Global BC to talk about his Bieksa’s Buddies charity game and stuck around to take a shot at manning the weather green screen himself. The weather segment begins about six minutes into the video below and Bieksa immediately points out the fact that he is indeed on a green screen, breaking that sort of suspension of disbelief required for weather segments. Global BC’s normal meteorologist gives a quick rundown on where to stand and where to look, then lets Bieksa take a spin at the temperatures.

It doesn’t go well at first–he can’t tell where to point–but then he gets the hang of it and starts pointing out the spots he likes in British Columbia and the Yukon. (Terrace! Whistler!)

http://youtu.be/lg8DB2w7WjQ

Subban and Bieksa definitely have personality and screen presence, as well as the kind of self-deprecating affability that most meteorologists adopt. While that’s all well and good, I’m sure they would both rather be taking the ice and playing instead of doing the weather on the morning news. Here’s hoping that they can get back to doing that sooner rather than later.

That being said, both guys did do more substantial weather segments than this: